1 . Nothing (Prologue)
2. Alter Ego
3. Desolated Dreams
4. Hemispheres
5. The Impossibility of Reason
6. L.I.E.S
Picture a rooftop, a parapet perhaps.(ok some open top area on a building!!). In the middle is a sofa chair. Dusk approaches….You are tired and left beleaguered by all the placid yet hectic chores of your own sullen life. The sofa presents you its ever enticing stare. On it, a myriad of bright colors huddle among themselves. Making one intricate piece of tapestry…The fluffy coziness it offers instills in you a zombie like crave. Your senses try to comprehend the beauty and warmth that it might offer. A temporary refuge into serenity from this unwarranted hustle and bustle of life .Without missing a beat, you rush to the sofa with a craze undeniable. You are on it! Switching your ass to every possible position, trying to figure out the best possible posture,. Hard is it to admit, but every single pose you come up with seems comfortable but at the same time you feel something is amiss. Trying too hard to get into your own ‘as snug as a bug in a rug’ posture. No matter what you do, the most perfect relaxing pose simply doesn’t come up. The thought leaves you scratching your head. That very zenith of comfort that eludes you, leaves you with a deep yearning for more.. more..more..
Yes this might be me being the pretentious prick, but this perfectly defines the album on a personal level.. ’Hemispheres’ by the Bengaluru based sextet ‘Forsaken’, is an album which can stand on its own. The album soars high taking a linear sloped path albeit being jagged and cut at some segments. The above ‘farfetched’ concept basically means that although the album is really good, it really isn’t without its share of flaws. Although when one weighs them both, the originality of the album definitely wins over. Also the moments of brilliance on the album leaves us wanting for more on maybe their next release.
Now onto the gist of the matter:
What you have here is a mishmash of metal genres peppered with clean guitar sections. You have death, melo death, thrash, symphonic and even sparse moments of black all having their share of the pie. The beautiful interplay of melody and heaviness is ever so prevalent and quite similar to their E.P. -Disengage. Whilst Disengage was a more direct approach, ‘Hemispheres’ is the band taking it to a new level and more melody oriented. Clocking in at around the 36 minute mark, it is a short album. It all kicks off with the opener ‘Nothing(Prologue)’.. This is without doubt one of the highlights on the album. The post-rockish and ethereal feel of the entire song clearly sets the stage for what is to follow. Ending up painting a very nihilistic setting. Soon we have the ‘chime effect’ of the synth starting up for ‘Alter Ego’. It delves into the general theme of the album on the ‘limitlessness of imagination’. Lyrically it juxtaposes one’s own alter ego to oneself.(Fightclub anybody?). Frankly this is very much an ordinary song. What raises the song from mediocrity to a somewhat semi enjoyable status is the ‘uber’ awesome synth lines that runs along the chorus and towards the end. Infact Nakul’s performance on the keys are nothing short of stellar on all the songs. It certainly does enhance one’s experience without sounding like technical wankery. The saving grace of the song is essentially the last part or rather the bridge section..Where in a cool thrash riff gives way to a solo and cymbal crashings in the background. The solo which is cool on its own is then joined by the fabulous synth again which then weaves spirally around each other for a brief period. The vocals here pretty much suit the song style.
Next we have the best song on the album and a crowd favorite ‘DesolateD Dreams’. Standing tall and proud above the rest of the tracks on the album, is a very doom laden track. With ‘The Gallery’ era Dark Tranquillity similarities getting a few spots, this song has the entire band in full flow. Some real tight drumming by Owais, Akshay’s vocals sounding more forlorn(adding to the well layered track),Nakul’s synths(well I’d want to save my already running-low allegory inventory here), the guitars sound brilliant especially with a C.A.F(Catchy As ****) solo towards the end. Even after it ends, the solo still lingers on your ‘brain player’. The song is nothing short of stellar.
In line is the instrumental title-track ‘Hemispheres’. Certainly a lack luster performance until about the 4 minute mark. Where in a solo does its job of being Mr.Saving Grace again. .The track again falls into the same fate as was the case for ‘Alter Ego’. But the last one and half minutes really does make up for the rather dull beginnings. ’Impossibility of reason’ is one other notable track. This is a hidden gem. For once the band’s lyrics sound non generic and above average, for it dwells on the fact of one’s aspirations and dreams hitting the local dumpster. Yes.. this matter has been covered by other bands. But then again its been neatly written and well executed . The protagonist in the song mourns his inability to live up to his dreams as he succumbs to life’s struggles. For he never followed his true calling and instead is living in regret as he enters senility. The song starts off with an offbeat clean guitar intro followed by an outright crushing main riff. The song maintains the tempo throughout.
‘L.I.E.S’ maybe considered the nadir of the entire album. This.. the band’s effort at making a lugubrious ballad, comes out as very uninspired. The vocals seem to add to the problem. This is the first track with Shivam on vocals, but he doesn’t make complete utilization of it either. The dullness of the track does pervade the listener for surprisingly the first time on the entire album. Equally average lyrics, banking on ‘love hating’ adds to the woes of the track.
Shivam does make up for his clean vox mishaps by truly shining on ‘Unsterblich’. The best way to describe the song would be
“Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the end of your tunnel
Was just a freight train coming your way” – Metallica (No leaf clover)
With a vocal delivery very reminiscent of ‘barney’ of Napalm Death fame, he single handedly overrides the entire song with brutality. To top it all a blistering solo and the synths jumping about constantly, in the back ground. This is the heaviest song on the album and is also a close contender for the best song on the same.
As a whole package the album is impressive albeit marred by some pretty average production issues and lyricism. This is an album that needs to be produced and mixed well so as to take notice and enjoy all the various nuances that runs replete in it. The band reeks of undeniable talent and its only a matter of time before they reach cult status.
Yes this might be me being the pretentious prick, but this perfectly defines the album on a personal level.. ’Hemispheres’ by the Bengaluru based sextet ‘Forsaken’, is an album which can stand on its own. The album soars high taking a linear sloped path albeit being jagged and cut at some segments. The above ‘farfetched’ concept basically means that although the album is really good, it really isn’t without its share of flaws. Although when one weighs them both, the originality of the album definitely wins over. Also the moments of brilliance on the album leaves us wanting for more on maybe their next release.
Now onto the gist of the matter:
What you have here is a mishmash of metal genres peppered with clean guitar sections. You have death, melo death, thrash, symphonic and even sparse moments of black all having their share of the pie. The beautiful interplay of melody and heaviness is ever so prevalent and quite similar to their E.P. -Disengage. Whilst Disengage was a more direct approach, ‘Hemispheres’ is the band taking it to a new level and more melody oriented. Clocking in at around the 36 minute mark, it is a short album. It all kicks off with the opener ‘Nothing(Prologue)’.. This is without doubt one of the highlights on the album. The post-rockish and ethereal feel of the entire song clearly sets the stage for what is to follow. Ending up painting a very nihilistic setting. Soon we have the ‘chime effect’ of the synth starting up for ‘Alter Ego’. It delves into the general theme of the album on the ‘limitlessness of imagination’. Lyrically it juxtaposes one’s own alter ego to oneself.(Fightclub anybody?). Frankly this is very much an ordinary song. What raises the song from mediocrity to a somewhat semi enjoyable status is the ‘uber’ awesome synth lines that runs along the chorus and towards the end. Infact Nakul’s performance on the keys are nothing short of stellar on all the songs. It certainly does enhance one’s experience without sounding like technical wankery. The saving grace of the song is essentially the last part or rather the bridge section..Where in a cool thrash riff gives way to a solo and cymbal crashings in the background. The solo which is cool on its own is then joined by the fabulous synth again which then weaves spirally around each other for a brief period. The vocals here pretty much suit the song style.
Next we have the best song on the album and a crowd favorite ‘DesolateD Dreams’. Standing tall and proud above the rest of the tracks on the album, is a very doom laden track. With ‘The Gallery’ era Dark Tranquillity similarities getting a few spots, this song has the entire band in full flow. Some real tight drumming by Owais, Akshay’s vocals sounding more forlorn(adding to the well layered track),Nakul’s synths(well I’d want to save my already running-low allegory inventory here), the guitars sound brilliant especially with a C.A.F(Catchy As ****) solo towards the end. Even after it ends, the solo still lingers on your ‘brain player’. The song is nothing short of stellar.
In line is the instrumental title-track ‘Hemispheres’. Certainly a lack luster performance until about the 4 minute mark. Where in a solo does its job of being Mr.Saving Grace again. .The track again falls into the same fate as was the case for ‘Alter Ego’. But the last one and half minutes really does make up for the rather dull beginnings. ’Impossibility of reason’ is one other notable track. This is a hidden gem. For once the band’s lyrics sound non generic and above average, for it dwells on the fact of one’s aspirations and dreams hitting the local dumpster. Yes.. this matter has been covered by other bands. But then again its been neatly written and well executed . The protagonist in the song mourns his inability to live up to his dreams as he succumbs to life’s struggles. For he never followed his true calling and instead is living in regret as he enters senility. The song starts off with an offbeat clean guitar intro followed by an outright crushing main riff. The song maintains the tempo throughout.
‘L.I.E.S’ maybe considered the nadir of the entire album. This.. the band’s effort at making a lugubrious ballad, comes out as very uninspired. The vocals seem to add to the problem. This is the first track with Shivam on vocals, but he doesn’t make complete utilization of it either. The dullness of the track does pervade the listener for surprisingly the first time on the entire album. Equally average lyrics, banking on ‘love hating’ adds to the woes of the track.
Shivam does make up for his clean vox mishaps by truly shining on ‘Unsterblich’. The best way to describe the song would be
“Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the end of your tunnel
Was just a freight train coming your way” – Metallica (No leaf clover)
With a vocal delivery very reminiscent of ‘barney’ of Napalm Death fame, he single handedly overrides the entire song with brutality. To top it all a blistering solo and the synths jumping about constantly, in the back ground. This is the heaviest song on the album and is also a close contender for the best song on the same.
As a whole package the album is impressive albeit marred by some pretty average production issues and lyricism. This is an album that needs to be produced and mixed well so as to take notice and enjoy all the various nuances that runs replete in it. The band reeks of undeniable talent and its only a matter of time before they reach cult status.
Words: Nishant
Hello, my name is Jack Sparrow. I'm a 50 year old self-employed Pirate from the Caribbean.